Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Scallop fever #4: Detachable beaded scallop collar


My first project for 2012!
This little number was actually finished (and worn several times) in 2011, but it's only now I get to show it to you!
It was A LOT of work: more than 1000 pearls sewn by hand! It took many many hours, but I found the process of beading very relaxing!
What took me longer than making the collar was to actually find the pearls! I went to a few stores where I live and I could only find glass pearls, which were extremely expensive, considering I needed a lot of them. Whenever I would ask for plastic pearls, people would be horrified and tell me they are too cheap! Well, guess what? I didn't want to spend 30 or more euros in beads, so in the end I went to dear old eBay, ordered the beads from a Chinese seller for a steal and waited patiently a month for them to arrive.
This was one of those (frequent) times in which I wanted so bad to have a Jo-Ann store near home.


The end result is not perfect (there are some bumps here and there, the texture of the pearls is not completely smooth), but I love it. It looks good with basically anything and makes any outfit look so elegant and classy!
If you like this collar, go say hi to Megan Nielsen and thank her for her fabulous tutorial! It's just thanks to her that it exists!


To see the previous installments of my "Scallop fever" series, click here.

22 comments:

  1. It looks amazing! I was surprised by how much I enjoyed beading the tips of my collar - once I got a rhythm going, I could see how relaxing a bigger project could be. Perhaps I should give this a try!

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  2. @Giulia
    Grazie, Giulia! <3

    @agoodwardrobe.com
    Thanks, Lizz! It really is relaxing, much more than embroidery or hand sewing!

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  3. It's so cute but what a patient girl you are, to sew all that by hand!

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  4. Lovely collar!!! So chic and vintage style!

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  5. Oh wow, that's so impressive - well done! It's really beautiful

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  6. This is so beautiful! And I know what you mean about wanting a store close by where you can actually, you know, buy stuff! x

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  7. Very impressive! It adds such a fun touch to your top.

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  8. Oh Anna!! This is gorgeous! I love how your version turned out! YAY so pretty!!! Thanks for the shout out honey :) XOXO

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  9. by the way, i featured your beaded collar in my blog post today here: http://dihayco.blogspot.com/2012/01/collar-dict.html

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  10. @Suzy
    I've always been keen on activities that require patience, such as embroidery... I think they calm me dowm!

    @AliceGrazie! Adoro il fatto che dà un tocco vintage anche alla maglia più banale.

    @Suzie
    Thank you :)

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  11. @Reana Louise
    Yup. Fabric stores don't carry notions here, and craft stores are an entirely different thing. Sigh!

    @liza jane
    Thanks! I love that it makes any top look so much more interesting!

    @megannielsen
    Again, thank you for the pattern!

    @Ai
    Thank you so much, Ai!

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  12. That is BEAUTIFUL.

    Tina
    retrorabbithole.blogspot.com

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  13. So beautiful and all the more delicate and precious for all the time and detail that went into it. Perfect.

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  14. Wow! This is super intricate and pretty! Great work!

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  15. Si e davvoro adorable! Sono studiato in Italia molti anni fa e mi piasce parler in Italiano. Seriously, maybe you should go to Paris and get a job with Lesage? I love how the shopkeepers had to give their opinion about plastic beads. I miss that sort of thing about Europe. Opinionated shopkeepers. Quick question, do you mind telling me what type of lens you use and if you use Photoshop actionsto give that cool color and haze? I love the quality of your phoos.

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    1. Sorry for the late reply!
      I use a 18-75 mm lens and then I edit photos with either Toycamera Analogcolor or Vintage Film action in Photoshop (you can find it for free).
      I kind of hate opinionated shopkeepers, they're always so nosy too!

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  16. WOW! I can't imagine how long it took you to make this pretty collar; what patience you must have. It certainly paid off since your collar is amazing!!!

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    Replies
    1. Thank you so much! :) I'm really happy of all the hard work I put in it.

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  17. Great work! Pretty impressive, congrats from Paris!

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